Analyst
I have conducted 10 annual surveys on the internal digital work environments of organizations between 2006 and 2016. Each year I published a report. The 10th annual survey report was published in November 2016: The Organization in the Digital Age (Move to netjmc.com to see the key findings.) Approximately 300 organizations participated each year.
New focus
As of 2018, my research focused on the gig mindset inside organizations. This led to the book described here and the inspiration for the podcast Bold New Breed.
Practitioner & management briefer
Firsthand strategic advising: I advised global organizations on their internal digital strategies and organizational culture evolutions for over 20 years from the late 90’s through 2016. I retired from this activity in 2017.
Air Liquide, France • Amadeus, Spain • ArcelorMittal, Luxembourg • Areva, France • Arup, UK • Alcatel-Lucent, France • Alstom Group, Switzerland • BASF, Germany • Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany • Damartex Group, France • Electricité de France • ERDF, France • Energias de Portugal • Ericsson, Sweden • Essilor, France • GDF Suez, France • GE, France • Gemalto, France • Georgia-Pacific Europe • GlaxoSmithKline, Belgium • Groupe SEB, France • IKEA, Sweden • IRSN, France • Lagardère, France • Neopost Industries, France • Nokia, Finland • Novartis, Switzerland • Océ, Holland • OMV Petrom, Austria, Romania • Pernod Ricard, France • Richemont (Cartier, Switzerland • Kering (previously PPR), France • RATP, France • SNCF, France • Telenor, Norway • Total, France • UPM, Finland • VINCI Energies, France
I also worked with a number of world organizations on their digital strategies:
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- UNHCR – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva
- United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, New York
- United Nations Secretariat, New York
- UNAIDS – Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Geneva
- IFRC – International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva
Management briefings: I am invited to give briefings to management in different industries. This is usually in the form of very short customized workshops of 2 or 3 hours with the objective of opening eyes and triggering awareness of the reality of our new era in the workplace. Through articles in business publications (see below) and in-person briefings, I help management envisage how they can define actionable (versus theoretical) strategies and mobilize their organization.
Global consumer goods organization, France • Key player in the financial transactions industry, France • Global industrial company in a merger context, US & France • International textile company in Europe • Global manufacturing company in Germany • Executive Round Table organized by the Peter Drucker Forum Europe, the Harvard Business Review and Roland Berger, Munich • Major French bank and insurance group, France • Government infrastructure agency, Europe • Global chemical company, Germany • Global technology company, Stockholm • Global construction company, Paris • Nuclear safety government agency, Europe • Leading luxury brands group, Europe
The blend: how analyst and practitioner came together
Unlike many analysts whose work is based on research and reading, my analytical work is grounded in 20 years of front line advising with large organizations, and supplemented by data from my 12 years of research.
I defined a foundational framework (Move to netjmc.com to see the details.) in 2013 using data and insights from several years of annual surveys. It became a reference point for organizations on their digital transformation travels.
Profiles from others
From Profiles in Knowledge by Stan Garfield, longtime, leading community facilitator in the field of knowledge. Stan covers nearly all my career here!
25 years of my career: From Founding Fuel during our month-long learning initiative in India around the gig mindset. The initiative involved a couple Clubhouse chats, online interviews and an interactive webinar with leading management and organizational thinkers in India.
Author of 2 books with a 25-year perspective
From old advantages on to new advantages…
L’avantage Internet
My first book was entitled “L’avantage Internet pour l’entreprise” published in France (in French) in 1996 by business publisher Dunod and reprinted twice. It was the first non-technical book about internet and intranet published in France. There are a few used copies on Amazon, and now–even over 15 years later–some of the lessons learned are still relevant.
The Gig Mindset Advantage
My second book addresses the gig mindset.
What follows is the description on Amazon:
“Companies and organizations around the world are being confronted with alarming challenges—a global pandemic, market shocks, climate change, political instability. But in these unsettled times, organizational analyst Jane McConnell reveals that managers and executives have a secret weapon on their side: an overlooked group of employees that share “the gig mindset”—a freelancer-style knack for improvisation, adaptability and innovation that offers a crucial key to the future.
“Found at all levels of the organizational workforce but often stifled by managers, gig mindsetters are disruptors who upend business as usual and bridge gaps while achieving surprising outcomes and charting new directions.
“In The Gig Mindset Advantage, McConnell brings her decades of research into workforce culture, organizational strategy and digital transformation to bear on this unrecognized breed of employee whose way of working offers a wake-up call to managers and executives, and a bold new pathway towards long-term success and resilience.”
Articles in business publications
MIT Sloan Management Review
- Neutralize Internal Politics in Digital Initiatives
- Related webinar with MIT Sloan Management August 2018: Don’t Let Politics Block Your Digital Initiatives
- How Digital Leaders Inspire Engagement
Harvard Business Review Digital
- The Company Cultures That Help (or Hinder) Digital Transformation
- Tracking the Trends in Bringing Our Own Devices to Work
Global Peter Drucker Forum Blog
- 2021 –The gig mindset: A compass for navigating uncertainty
- 2020 – Leadership Everywhere Means Reversed Leadership
- 2018 – How a Gig Mindset Inside Organizations Will Shape our Future
- 2017 – The Inclusive Organization and the Reachability Factor
- 2016 – Seeding an Entrepreneurial Work Culture
Me and chez moi
The past and the present
Born in Nebraska, young days in Arizona and university in California, I now live in Provence, just minutes away from the Roman Pont du Gard. The dignity and timelessness of the site are a constant reminder of the balance I (and we all) need between the past and the present.
